Those Who See
by Malevolent Reverie
Summary: I had no idea how I stumbled across such a powerful piece of history. All I remembered was seeing a beautiful golden orb glittering through the sludge and rainwater in a ditch, catching my eye as I walked home one evening. It was instinct to touch it. Ezio/OC
1. 001

**A/N**: I know everyone who reads my stories probably doesn't like Assassin's Creed but GODDAMN. EZIO AUDITORE. So this is my attempt at an ACB fanfic. We'll see how it goes, and if a plot develops. As of right now it's gonna be a bunch of romance with some action thrown in. I'm going to be using a translator for the Italian so bear with me. I'll be putting the translations directly in the story instead of that annoying bullshit where I list it at the end. But there's a few terms I hope AC fans know, like salve, signora, etc. I'm going to keep the OC from being an annoying goddamn Mary Sue. NO, ASSASSIN'S CREED THE GAME DOES NOT EXIST IN THIS UNIVERSE. I always do that with my OC fanfics because I think it's fucking stupid to make the girl say OMG I'M SOOOO LUCKY, I FELL INTO MY FAVE VIDEO GAME TO BONE MY FAVE CHARACTER. No. It ruins the story's integrity.

**Warnings:** Violence, obvs sex later because this is Ezio we're talking about.

**Pairings:** Ezio/OC.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Assassin's Creed or anything associated with it.

**-MalRev**

* * *

There are three classes of people: those who see, those who see when they are shown, those who do not see.**  
**

-_Leonardo da Vinci_

* * *

**Those Who See**

_001_

Two weeks ago, I had no idea what an Apple of Eden was.

That came as no surprise—it was a secret artifact coveted by a mysterious organization that had been around since the dawn of time. The Apple wasn't meant to be public knowledge and it wasn't meant to fall into the hands of a twenty-something legal aide in the Bronx. But somehow, it did. Somehow, I was dragged into a war that had been raging across the ages without tiring.

I had no idea how I stumbled across such a powerful piece of history. All I remembered was seeing a beautiful golden orb glittering through the sludge and rainwater in a ditch, catching my eye as I walked home one evening. It was instinct to touch it. My curiosity was piqued and I'll admit that I wondered if it was valuable enough to sell. I closed my umbrella and knelt down, fingers outstretched, pushing through the cold mud and water until the pads of my fingers touched the Apple.

There was a glowing as I was painfully ripped from my reality and throw through time. I remembered being hurled into an empty space where the laws of physics no longer applied. I remembered seeing her… Minerva. She spoke softly as I shivered from the cold, my fragile human mind of the brink of collapse. Yes, it all felt so long ago and yet, as if it were just yesterday…

* * *

"Feebs, will you wake up?!"

An annoyed groan escaped my mouth as my sister yanked me up in bed, furiously trying to get me up for school. I was in my second year of college, just taking random classes to see what felt right. Getting up in the morning was far from easy for me. I'd be stuck in classes all day until three just to be stuck at work for another five hours. It was an agonizing cycle that really needed to end.

I slumped forward the second Louise let me go and she angrily shoved me over so I was lying on my side. I sighed happily and began to pull the sheets up to my neck but my sister wasn't having it. She tore them away, throwing them on the floor and stomping on them as I yawned and groggily rubbed my eyes. Another day, another dollar. Well, I didn't keep many of my dollars. They went to food and rent and—

"I swear to god, if you don't get up, I'm gonna break something." Louise had her fists clenched at her sides, already dressed to the nines at ten AM. She was a go-getter. Pretty, blonde, tall, thin. "You need to get to class on time, Phoebe! Mom and dad set aside a lot of money for you to go!"

My bed was warm and soft. It didn't want me to leave. I forced myself to sit up and stretched out my short legs until the joints popped. "Why were you allowed to spend your bonds on clothes and a car? I'd rather be driving a Lexus than listening to some boring professor prattle on about history. Must be nice living the life while I'm struggling to survive."

Louise was older than me by ten years, making her 32. She was married to a nice guy named Peter and they had so far granted me with two nephew who were both younger than eight. Peter was an esteemed plastic surgeon centered in Manhattan, where rich clients would gladly shell out thousands of dollars to have their ugly mugs changed. Louise stayed home with the kids all day and sometimes she came to my gross little apartment to bother the shit out of me.

Let me tell you, Louise had a lot of practice. She was excellent at being a pushy, annoying bitch. I loved her dearly but she had been the same way during our childhood because of the age difference. It was always the strong leader, Louise, and her fragile little sister, Phoebe. Now she liked telling me that I had to go to college and get a better education. She harped on me all the time.

I sourly picked lint off my baggy t-shirt as she went off on me. I hadn't grown up in my sister's shadow or anything—she was great most of the time. Our parents didn't favor either of us. But Louise stood out more than I did in a lot of ways. Pretty, smart, tall, blonde… I didn't sell myself short by any means. I had a healthy self-esteem. I was much more athletic and personable than my sister. Sometimes I just wished my hair was a brighter blonde like hers, or my legs were long like hers, or—

"What are you _staring _at?!" Louise hissed.

I realized too late that my somber gaze had locked on my window. It would take me a while to fully wake up, as it always did. I'd have to miss my calculus class. Bummer.

My sister pinched the bridge of her nose. "Have you seen the doctor like I told you to? You've been zoning out a lot lately and you know a myriad of health issues run in our family. Do you do anything I tell you to do? It would give all of us peace of mind to know you're healthy. Do you even care?"

"Yes," I said. "I'll get it done eventually. I've been really busy with work and stuff."

"Get unbusy. Stop staying up late. Do your homework and pull yourself together before you're stuck living in this dingy apartment your whole life."

Louise was gone before I could defend myself. Looking back, it was a horrible way to part with my sister. I didn't even get the chance to say goodbye to my parents, either. But I guess I left behind a life I wasn't fond of. I'd never found my niche in the modern world and I doubted I ever would.

The rest of the day was clockwork.

Somehow I managed to drag myself out of bed and shuffle into my bathroom for a shower. I just stood there staring at the wall for a long time, letting the hot water cascade down my back in sheets. At that point in my life I was becoming depressed to a dangerous degree. I was losing my will to get out of bed in the morning and greet the day. It was the same shit over and over again.

But I still pressed onward. Mom told me growing up that I had a "strong" personality. I wasn't afraid to get what I wanted when there was a price attached. I used to chalk it up to her trying to make me feel better about never finding my passion in life but as time wore on I began to realize how right she was.

After my shower I hurried downstairs to hop on my bike and ride across the city to my college, LaGuardia. It was a community college, small and cheap, that offered flexible classes. I weaved through traffic as music blared through my headphones and the weight of my backpack nearly yanked me off my seat. Cars beeped and I casually flipped them off until I arrived at the front steps of my college.

There was only one massive building. The Bronx had quite a few colleges so people spread out fairly evenly and none of them were particularly crowded. LaGuardia was constructed from the remnants of an old British fort during the Civil War—there were still cobblestone pathways around the school and the stonework was heavily laden with ivy. It was definitely impressive. They were putting in new windows so it wasn't looking as good as usual, but time wasn't treating the building well.

I quickly chained my bike to the rack outside and rushed in to dash upstairs to my history class. I burst in the door, sliding into a seat in the back when my professor turned her back to pull down the white board. A couple of people glanced at me disapprovingly as I unzipped my backpack to take out my binder that held my precious ten page research paper. It had taken me all damn night and $20 worth of Redbull to hammer the thing out.

My day at LaGuardia went by slowly. I chewed on the end of my pen in boredom as my professors droned. I handed in a few papers. I copied down a few notes. I stared longingly out the window, dreaming of playing volleyball on a sunshine-drenched beach down south. Oh how I wished I had to the money to go on a vacation. I'd have loved to spend a weekend doing absolutely nothing.

But I was an adult, so I had a ton of responsibilities. There was no way I could swing a vacation. I had to grind my way through college, get a better paying job that I hated equally as much as working at a law firm, and try to go through life happy. Maybe I'd meet an attractive guy somewhere along the road. I wasn't painfully ugly or anything, just sort of short. I could probably find someone at least half as hot as Peter. God, Louise was so lucky. Her husband was smart, successful, funny, and drop dead gorgeous.

I frowned at my reflection in the window. There I went again, belittling myself in the image of Louise. It wasn't healthy. I was perfectly fine the way I was. No need to be jealous of my sister's life. Besides, I didn't like kids, nor did I want them. It was cool living the way I did. I was free as a bird.

Classes were over soon enough. I gathered my things and headed back to my bike to pedal down the road to my job at Callaghan & Partners. It was run by a well-to-do lawyer named Rachel Callaghan and her brother, Henry. They mainly dealt with construction workers who were injured on the job and were extremely good at what they did. I hadn't seen either of them lose many cases. Then again, they left me to do menial, simple work. I sorted papers. The secretary, Margaret, did most of the heavy lifting.

The sun was starting to set as I pedaled over to work and I heard thunder rumbling in the distance. Ugh, I'd have to walk home. My bike didn't cooperate well when it was wet. I sighed as I avoided the potholes I knew all too well and finally arrived outside the small building where I'd be spending the next five hours of my life chasing paper.

The office was warm and Margaret had the space heater running. I shivered as I hung up my jacket, cursing the slow start to spring this year. It had snowed two weeks ago, dashing my hopes of bringing my nephews out to play in the sunshine.

Margaret laughed softly on the phone as I adjusted my ponytail in the glass on the door. She was middle-aged and soft-spoken, almost my opposite. Despite that, we got along very well. She had traveled the world as a little girl and often told me about her adventures with her family. Her parents raised her for the longest time in Italy, where she'd easily picked up the language and new friends. Margaret taught me a bit of each language she knew but I didn't retain much. I wasn't a good learner.

After she hung up the phone she beamed brightly at me. "Salve, Phoebe! There isn't much to do tonight, just a bit of organizing. Our bosses have already headed home for the evening. After you file some papers away for me you can head home if you'd like."

"Thank god. I'm so tired today. It took forever to get out of bed."

"That doesn't surprise me, bambino. Perhaps you should head to tuo letto (your bed) earlier, hmm?" She looked at me over the rim of her glasses, smirking.

I shrugged morosely. I hated when she threw Italian at me. It was hard to learn. "I guess so, signora. What kinds of papers am I organizing?"

Margaret set me to work and I was occupied for another hour or two. She rattled off more Italian as I organized and I rolled my eyes when I replied, struggling to draw the words from memory. I couldn't escape school. I was always learning somewhere. Even Louise pressured me to pick up an arts and crafts class like sewing so I could 'expand my horizons.' I was sick of it. I wanted to settle down.

Little did I know, those Italian lessons were about to come in handy.

When my work was finished I checked in with Margaret before leaving. She usually stuck around to close everything down for Rachel and Henry. I tiredly pulled on my coat and trudged out into the torrential downpour, leaving behind my cherished mentor forever. I shuddered in the cold and took off down the street, sticking close to the side of the road to avoid the cars. I couldn't wait to curl up in bed…

"Oh no!" I exclaimed when I stepped in a particularly deep puddle.

I stopped to check the damage of my new shoes, kneeling down in the rain and hating my bad luck. Of course it had to happen to me. On top of everything else, I ruined my new shoes. I huffed angrily and muttered a string of obscenities until something shimmering gold caught my eye. Slowly, my gaze traveled along the dark pavement to a beautiful round object lying in a ditch.

For a few seconds, I didn't move. I stared in shock at the orb as rain pattered around me. Most of it was covered by mud and water but from what I could see, it looked valuable. Maybe I could sell it to a pawn shop and buy another pair of shoes. I leaned forward on my hands and knees and stretched my fingers through the downpour toward the brilliant object that almost seemed to be calling me.

My nails sank through the cold mud as I stared at the thing, transfixed. I pushed through the dirt up to my elbow and I could practically feel the gold glittering in my eyes. Was it a divine test? Was God seeing if I was a greedy bitch like the rest? I reached as far as I could, excited and terrified.

The edge of my index finger's nail just grazed the edge of the Apple of Eden. Everything stopped.


	2. 002

**A/N:** Hi. Chapter two. There's going to be minimal Italian in this because translating it is annoying. I'll use as much as is necessary. I also post sort of short chapters-about 2,000 words a piece-but I update rather frequently.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Assassin's Creed or anything affiliated with it.

**-MalRev**

**Those Who See**

_002_

The Apple immediately ripped me through time and space, which was far from a pleasant experience. It felt as though my skin was peeling off as I was hurtled through my reality to a completely different one. My mouth was wide open in a silent scream and my purse flew off somewhere into nothingness as I clutched the Apple and prayed I would survive the ordeal. We flew past supernovas and cosmic dust through the black vacuum of space until I was finally set free.

I was thrown into a glowing room where I rolled across the floor and collided with the wall. I groaned softly and rubbed my head, trying to figure out what was happening. It was cold wherever I was. What the hell happened? All I did was touch some pretty piece of jewelry and now I was tripping like I dropped acid. I pushed myself up off the floor and stared at the beautiful object. It held an immense power. I could feel it practically splitting my veins apart, making them pop and turn blue against my knuckles that clenched the Apple tightly. It was warm.

When I turned to check out my surroundings, I gasped in shock and scrambled backwards to press myself against the wall. My pupils dilated to filter in as much light as possible and make sure I wasn't going crazy. If I wasn't, there was definitely a tall, glowing woman standing across the room.

She smiled at me. "Greetings, Phoebe Martin. I trust your trip here was not wholly uncomfortable?"

Soon the room began to come into focus. There were shining gold lines in the floor that outlined intricate drawings of moments throughout history: the destruction of Rome, the detonation of the first atomic bomb, the first wheel being made… I rubbed my eyes in shock, jaw hanging open. The pictures gave me a vague idea of how big the room was—about the size of Louise's living room. It was definitely sizeable. But the walls were clear, giving me a clear view of the nothingness beyond us.

My work clothes were soaked to the core and I was shivering madly as I held the Apple close to my chest. Normally I would've been upset that my khakis and blouse were destroyed but there were much more important things to worry about, like _where the hell I was_.

The woman across the room stepped closer, arms outstretched. She was wearing a gaudy headpiece that accentuated her height and a silk gown that draped to the floor. Her eyes were piercing and honestly a bit eerie: gold, just like everything else around me. She looked foreign and beautiful but dangerous at the same time. I shrank back against the wall and she stopped in her tracks.

"Of course," she murmured, clasping her hands, "you are frightened. All will come to you in due time. Desmond has been locked out of this world and we require a new vessel to guide Ezio through his trials. Whilst Desmond deals with problems in the future, you must solve them in the past. Only then can you return home to your family and friends; to the life you knew and loved."

I blinked. "I… what? Who the hell are you? Where am I?" My fingers tightened around the Apple and I held it up, marveling at how light it was. "What is this thing?"

"My name is Minerva. I am one of Those Who Came Before. This is one of our pockets of space and time where we may exist without fear of persecution." Her golden eyes fell upon the Apple and she smiled. "That is the cause of much heartache in your world. The Apple of Eden. Take care of it, Phoebe. It must never fall into the wrong hands, even those you think you trust."

"What are you talking about? I don't want to be thrown back in time! Send me home so I can go to bed!"

Minerva outstretched her fingers toward me, still smiling weakly. "Margaret has done well teaching you but there are several gaps I need to fill. You won't proceed far with a language barrier. I think it is far safer if your become one with the Apple. Good luck, Phoebe."

Before I could ask more questions, the Apple started glowing again and I was torn back out of Minerva's creep little home. I still couldn't scream as my body was painfully shredded through time and violently forced into an existence that was not my own. It was unnatural and it was the worst pain I'd ever felt. I'd broken quite a few bones in my lifetime playing around but nothing compared to transcending reality.

There was a pop.

The air was shoved out my lungs as I landed on something very hard and once again rolled across the ground. I lay perfectly still on the cobblestone walkway, thinking it was like the one at school. All I had was a very bad, very realistic dream. It was nothing to worry about but I definitely needed to see a doctor. I coughed as I pushed myself up off the ground and gripped my pounding head. The Apple was nowhere to be seen. Had I dropped it somewhere along the way?

I winced at the bright sunlight and set my hand on the building in front of me. Odd. It was made of cement or some sort, not steel. I'd been thrown in an alley though so it could've been the side of LaGuardia. I stumbled to my feet as noises began to reach my ears, like the sound of horses whinnying and the grinding of wooden wheels on stone. People were laughing, crying, and arguing. Confused, I shuffled forward out of the alley into the street.

If I hadn't just seen a supernatural being in the sky telling me I was about to become part of history, I probably would have fainted.

The people around me were clearly from a different time. All the women were wearing dresses and had their hair tied up in buns atop their heads as they giggled at the men chatting with them. The men were wearing obscenely strange clothes that a guy from my time wouldn't be caught dead in. I groaned and massaged my eyes with my fingertips to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

There were tapestries hanging from buildings and people on horses rode by as I swayed into full view. A doctor with a plague mask was administering medicine to a coughing man; women with their hair tied in double buns were grabbing soldiers decked out in full armor by their collars; a man was handing a blacksmith a broken weapon. I spun around in circles as I began to realize where Minerva dropped me.

This wasn't any old time in history. This was the Renaissance, a time of great upheaval and change, when the Church began to lose its influence and history was being made on a daily basis. I was feverish with fear as I realized my clothes were not fit for the time I was in. They would think I was a lesbian or some kind of outcast. Women didn't wear pants back then—they wore long, flowing dresses. What if guards found me and thought I was a witch? Were they still worried about witches?

A woman standing off to the side chatting with another woman finally noticed me. Her eyes widened and she whispered something to her friend before clearing her throat to catch my attention. I turned, still wide-eyed with shock. I really should've hidden myself somewhere.

"Che indossa lei, signora? (What are you wearing, miss?)" she asked.

"I… it's hard to explain," I managed. "Are you speaking Italian?"

The two women exchanged a look and the one who hadn't spoken yet eyed me warily.

"What else would we be speaking? Perhaps the sun has given you a touch of stroke. It would be wise to visit the doctor so he can help you feel better."

I nodded tensely to them and hobbled off to the next alleyway. God, these people talked weird. I'd have to watch the way I worded things if I wanted to stay alive. This was an unstable time and people weren't afraid to take you out if they thought you could be a danger. I was proceeding down the cobblestone pathway when two shadows eclipsed mine from behind. I stopped dead.

A long sword descended next to my wrist. "Salve, signora. Where are you going on this fine day?"

When I turned, I sucked in a deep breath. There were two well-armed soldiers standing behind me with their weapons at the ready. Neither of them seemed pleased with my outfit. Going back in time meant I lost my rights as a woman that we had worked hundreds and hundreds of years for. I smiled sheepishly and inclined my head to them, thankful that my hair was in a ponytail. Having it down would make me look like even more of a harlot.

"Just um… dressed for a play," I said. "Le mie scuse. (My apologies.) I'll be going home now."

The soldier pressed the tip of his sword to my throat. "What kinds of fabrics are those? It is nothing I have seen before. Where do you hail from? You do not look Italian."

I swallowed and felt the cold steel nick my skin. Oh no, oh no. I was from a country that wouldn't exist for at least another two hundred years. What nation was I descended from again that existed now? "Germany. I'm from Germany. I'm here for sightseeing. We wear different clothes, you see."

"Ah, the nation-state. Our women in Italy wear much more appropriate clothing." He withdrew his sword but grabbed my wrists, scowling. "You are under arrest for public indecency. Perhaps you should research a culture before blindly throwing yourself into it, sciocco."

Another problem: soldiers had nearly unlimited power.

The men bound my wrists with rope and turned me around to march me through town , drawing the attention of adults and children alike. People stared in horror at my outfit and I tried to hide my face, not paying attention to where we were walking. If I behaved well they might let me go. Otherwise, I was in for a short drop and a sudden stop at the gallows.

Italy was fairly temperate. Goosebumps rose on my skin as we proceeded through the city and I wished I could change out of my wet clothes. The sun was bright and warm, completely different from where I had just come from. The cogs in my mind turned as I wondered whether or not I could alter history. What would happen if I stumbled upon Christopher Columbus? What year was it?

The men led me up a gigantic set of stairs toward a towering building that looked like an ancient Roman castle. People were practicing swordplay outside and watched the guards leading me onward. I wanted to die. I wanted to shrink down and turn into nothing. What a terrible period of time to be placed in.

We entered the castle and I was placed on a marble bench. One guard stood beside me while his cohort went off to seek whatever mayor or nobleman ran the city. I looked around curiously and discovered two things: one, the name of the city was Monteriggioni, and two, the year was 1499. It was nice having some context to the mess I was in. I felt a bit more grounded in reality, even if I was about to die.

"You are lucky," the guard said casually. "Ezio is away on a mission and has a soft spot for women. Perhaps when he comes back he will be willing to spare your life."

I nodded silently, keeping my lips firmly pressed together. Ezio was probably the highest ranking nobleman in the city and he would be able to decide my fate. If I just quietly pleaded my case I might be able to put on normal clothes and live alongside the people. If I reacted poorly and tried to pull an angry feminist assault on them, I'd be killed in an instant.

The second guard came back and together, they led me through the building to a set of stairs descending to a cellar. I was led down the echoing steps into the increasingly cold basement and the guards chattered in another language about me—it sounded like Spanish. Soon we arrived at the bottom of the stairs and one guard pushed me forward into the dark room lit by several torches.

There were six statues in a circular pattern on the outer wall of the basement and one huge statue in the center. All of them looked like important people throughout history—all from different times with different objectives. I squinted at one that looked suspiciously like Leonius, the man responsible for the assassination of Caligula. Huh. What a strange place.

"Not many people see the Sanctuary," said one of the guards, tossing a thick blanket to me. "Who knows, you may make it out of here alive."

They went back up the stairs and I sank to my knees. Where the hell was I?


	3. 003

**A/N:** Yeeeey, Ezio appears! This takes place during Brotherhood, at the very beginning. We'll see how it pans out. Like I said, I'm not sure what we're looking at in terms of plot. I want to thank the sole reviewer, by the way! You're the best!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Assassin's Creed or anything affiliated with it.

**-MalRev**

**Those Who See**

_003_

Time dragged on.

I knelt on the floor for quite a while, simply staring at the tallest statue in the center of the room as my mind began to fray around the edges. Was I going insane? Maybe. Did it matter? No. They could tell I was a foreigner. They knew there was something off about me and I had a feeling I wouldn't live to explain my circumstances. Germany didn't exist as a separate country yet and I certainly didn't have a German accent. In fact, I _lacked _an accent. That defined quite a few Americans.

Soon I fell back on my behind and pulled the blanket up to my chin. My hair was dirty blonde but it still made me stand out amongst the raven-haired Italians in Monteriggoni. I was wearing khaki pants, which were made of a material that didn't exist yet, and I was wearing a tight blue blouse. The Renaissance was a revival of knowledge but it was still unstable and I could still be considered a risk.

As I stared blankly at the seven statues solemnly guarding the Sanctuary, I felt tears prick the corners of my eyes. Why did I have to touch the damn Apple? I could've been home in my bed dreading the next day of classes and arguing with my sister but instead I was waiting for a death sentence at the turn of the sixteenth century. My country didn't even exist yet. Christopher Columbus had just accidentally stumbled upon the Americas and perhaps still believed he was in India.

It was too much. I hastily reached in my pocket to take out my cell phone and scrolled through my texts, clinging to the life I was forced to leave behind. My battery was at seventy percent, which meant I'd lose all ties to my friends and family by the end of the day. I wished in vain for cell service so I could call them and tell them I was sort of okay but that was a pipe dream. My phone might frighten them even more than my damn clothes. Electricity was still a long ways off.

There were footsteps on the stairs as I was beginning to contemplate how to act like a proper lady. I watched the two guards from before emerge from the last step and proceed to me, gesturing for me to rise with their swords. Trembling from fear and cold, I staggered to my feet and had my arms roughly twisted behind my back so they could lead my back upstairs. My teeth were chattering.

"Signore Ezio is upstairs in his chambers," the taller guard said. "He is quite tired from a long day's work so he would prefer to deal with you on his own terms." He laughed to his friend. "Scommetto che è cornea. (I bet he's horny.)"

"Lui era via per un bel po '. Quello che un cane! (He was away for quite a while. What a dog!)"

Cold fear gripped my heart and I started struggling desperately against the guards. The one holding me grew irritated and lifted his hands for a split second to turn me around, offering an opportunity to strike. I spun around to shove him backwards and he fell down the last flight of stairs we had climbed as his friends drew his weapon, shouting for me to stop. But I was too terrified. I whirled around and darted up the stairs toward the entrance to the Sanctuary, hoping I could escape before they caught me.

I was rushing up the stairs with my head turned to keep an eye on the guard charging toward me, brandishing a sword that would cut off my head in an instant. My eyes widened in fear and I didn't bother to turn and see where I was headed before it was too late.

A squeal of surprise escaped me when I collided into something very solid at the top of the stairs and nearly fell back down them. I was left groaning in pain for the millionth time, gripping my head as the guards finally caught up with me. This was it. I was about to die in vain in a place I didn't understand with people I understood even less with a purpose that made no sense. Fantastic.

There was a deep, baritone laugh. "My apologies, signora. I did not mean to impede your escape."

Still grimacing from the collision, I squinted to see a pair of black boots layered with greaves not two feet in front of me. My eyes slowly roamed up the stranger's legs, over a long, flowing white coat embroidered with beautiful red designs, all the way up the heavy arsenal around his waist to the white hood obscuring his face. I gawked at him in a mixture of confusion and awe as two swords crossed over my throat. The man waved his wrist and the guards grudgingly retracted their weapons.

He knelt down in front of me and offered me his hand. I still couldn't see his face no matter how hard I tried. Unsure, I made a movement to shake his hand and was surprised when he took my palm between his fingers to lightly kiss my knuckles. I heard the slither of steel and suddenly, a knife concealed in his wrist was being pressed to my throat.

"Let us go upstairs quietly, hm?" he asked.

I swallowed and twitched my chin a bit so show I agreed. The man signaled for his soldiers to leave and rose to help me to my feet, placing the tip of the hidden blade at the small of my back. He led me forward toward a huge staircase that led to the next floor in the gigantic castle and we made our way down a hall until we arrived at a door. He reached past me to open it and I silently slipped inside, hands clasped before me as he shut it behind us.

The man stood before me again and pulled back his hood, finally revealing his face. I bit down hard on my lip to keep from making any awkward noises. He was attractive, that much was for sure. He had thick black hair tied in a ponytail at the base of his neck, olive skin and facial hair that framed an odd scar on the side of his mouth. He did not smile at me and once again the knife kissed my neck.

I found myself stammering excuses. "I'm… I'm… I'm not from here s-so please d-don't—"

"Non ho alcun interesse a uccidere voi. (I have no interest in killing you.) All I wish to know is your name and what purpose you have in Monteriggoni. You see, I have had a very trying day and wish to retire with a friend for the evening. I prefer punctual replies."

"My name is Phoebe Martin and I don't know how I got here," I said. "I'm from the uh… north. Near the nation-state of Germany."

"You lack an accent. Strano. (Strange.)" He pushed my chin up with the tip of the blade so our eyes could meet. I was centimeters away from death. "If you are pursuing business in my city I must politely request that you do not dress so… ostentatiously. It only attracts negative attention. We Italiani are a proud people who adhere to traditions."

I frowned. "Are you Ezio?"

"Sì. For your sake, I hope we do not meet again, Phoebe. What a strange name."

Looking into Ezio's eyes suddenly prompted me to tell him about my encounter with Minerva. He felt trustworthy for some reason. Perhaps he could help me establish a life and learn to cohabitate with the locals after he was done threatening to kill me. I rubbed my throat when he finally withdrew his hidden blade and he opened the bedroom door rather hastily. Jeez, his friends must've been important.

"I have a question, if you don't mind," I said. "Have you ever heard of the Apple of Eden?"

A myriad of emotions passed over Ezio's face but pure, dumb shock was the strongest. "Mi scusi?"

I realized I had stricken a nerve. Suddenly shy again, I waved it off and moved to leave the room, but Ezio kicked the door shut and was quickly in my personal bubble. I scowled at the intrusion and moved back but he seemed almost angry now and was pointing a finger at my nose. Just as I thought: the Apple was something important to all of these people. Minerva threw me into something tremendous.

Ezio's attractive features were now marred by outrage. He pushed me against the wall and I heard the hidden blade hiss out of his sleeve again to hover inches from my eyeball. "What do you know of the Apple? Are you a Templar? Un Assassino? Is it in your possession?"

"Well I found it in a ditch and when I touched it, I met some weird lady named Minerva. She told me to help you and..." I shifted uncomfortably, bothered by the knife. "Do you mind? It's hard for me to retell me story when you're gonna stab my eyeballs out."

"I am un Assassino before un gentiluomo. You spoke with Minerva? Where is the Apple?"

"I'm not talking until you let go and get your damn knife away from my—"

The assassin retracted his blade to grab me by the collar with both hands, hazel eyes burning with anger. "Answer me! Where is the Apple of Eden?"

"It's in me you jerk! She fused me with it when I was transported to this godforsaken place!" I struggled desperately, tugging on his big hands. "Let go before I kick you where it hurts!"

Ezio's eyes widened and he dragged me so close I could see the flecks of gold in irises. My heart was pounding madly. "You're lying. The Apple is gone! It could never fuse with a mere mortal. Are you a Templar agent or just afflicted with the plague?"

"I have proof I'm not lying," I panted. "Look in my front pocket. There's something called a cell phone there and it won't exist for another five hundred years. You people don't even have plumbing yet so I'm sure electricity is gonna absolutely blow your mind. Go ahead, check it out."

One hand held me firmly against the wall while Ezio's free hand moved down my waist. I struggled to maintain my composure and look annoyed as he wormed his fingers deep in my front pocket and grasped my cell phone, withdrawing it without breaking his gaze from mine. My cheeks started flushing with heat as he curiously turned my phone over before finally offering it to me.

I dropped from the wall with an irritated look and pressed the unlock button to make the screen light up. Ezio leaned in even closer gently brushing his arm to mine as I scrolled through the different apps on my phone. I showed him my text messages and struggled to explain how it worked without confusing him too much, then moved on to how the different applications worked. There was no way I'd tackle the Internet. That was a bit too far out for him.

After I was finished explaining my phone and what had happened to me, Ezio gingerly picked up the device between his fingertips and tossed it across the room on his bed. I immediately protested but he blocked me with one arm and shook his head. They'd destroy it! What if I altered history?!

"I will take this contraption as payment," Ezio said. "You will live here, in the Villa, so I can keep an eye on your whereabouts. My friend Leonardo will take a great interest in hearing about your life. Are you certain Minerva merged you with the Apple or is it simply speculation?"

"I'm positive. I can kind of feel it in me. It's really warm." I stood on my tiptoes, gripping his forearm to watch my phone sadly. "That isn't technology you're supposed to have yet. Wouldn't it be better for me to hold onto it? I don't want to change the course of history. Y'know, if you step on one butterfly it could make everything turned to shit."

Ezio raised an eyebrow and a smile touched the corners of his mouth. "Ah, an astute observation. Leonardo is trustworthy. He understands the implications of your peculiar technology. I suppose my evening with Caterina is to be cut short. I have many things to discuss with Uncle Mario and Machiavelli. Please make yourself comfortable here, signora. It is the most secure room in the Villa."

"Wait, you're just going to leave me here alone? What if I try to escape again?"

"You have no reason to." He took a few steps back to bow, drawing the cape attached to his shoulder over so it obscured his mouth. "Tu sei il mio rione. (You are my ward.) I offer a safe place to lay your head and warm food in lieu of freedom."

"That's what dictators always say before they enslave their people. Look, I appreciate it but if you're gonna try to kill me again then I'm happier living on the streets."

"I insist. Rest and recover your strength. I will be in the Sanctuary discussing matters with my allies." Ezio straightened, seeming much more chipper. He raised his hood so his face was hidden again and disguised his arm behind his cape.

The assassin left before I could protest any further. I hesitated by the closed door, eyeing his bed longingly but unsure if it was a good idea to sleep in it. My heavy eyelids made the decision easier. I crossed the room to rummage through his drawers and withdrew a shirt to wrap around myself as makeshift pajamas. It was sort of big but it was clean and warm, which was all that mattered.

"Goddamn Italian people," I grumbled, crawling under the sheets. I held my phone tightly to my chest and sighed heavily. "This is not how I wanted to start my week."

Exhaustion crept over me and I soon fell asleep.


	4. 004

**A/N:** Yeah, I'm not gonna follow Brotherhood exactly. Thanks for the review again. It would be nice to have a few more!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Assassin's Creed or anything affiliated with it.

**-MalRev**

**Those Who See**

_004_

"Guarda come dorme in pace, fratello. (Look out how peacefully she sleeps, brother.) It would be a pity to rouse her from her dreams. Perhaps we can return in a few hours to see if she's awakened? I'm sure the trip to our time has drained her considerably. Ah! I know! We can prepare her breakfast!"

The voice was unfamiliar. My eyes slowly opened against the pillow I was cuddling with and I groggily returned to reality. There were candles stationed around the room to offer light during the night and several beautiful paintings adorned the walls. I silently reigned in my terror as I recalled that I was no longer in my own time, but thrown backwards to Renaissance Italy at a glowing woman's behest. Oh no. How was I going to explain my absence to Louise? She was gonna kill me for missing school.

A comforting deep baritone spoke next. "Calm yourself, Claudia. La notte (the night) is not through yet. We still have any questions to ask her before daylight breaks. Uncle Mario is still not entirely certain that she or her story can be trusted. We have many enemies now."

"Oh really? Ezio, I can tell the girl is not from our time simply by her hair. Only those far to the north have such fair features and the nation-states are engulfed in war. How could she have wandered all the way down to Italia? Monteriggioni is well hidden from prying eyes and the women who reported her to the guards claimed that she appeared out of nowhere. Minerva sent her here for a reason."

"Whatever that reason, we still must be certain we can trust her," Ezio said. "But I am inclined to agree with you on all counts. Her name is far too outlandish to be from this time. Phoebe? I have difficulty pronouncing those syllables. Perhaps we should bequeath her a new title so she can assimilate to our time and culture. I would prefer that she remain well hidden."

The bed shifted and I heard Claudia laugh. She had a very pleasant voice that probably matched up to a beautiful face. "Are you suggesting a nickname for our new Assassino? My brother is going soft as he ages. You failed to extend such courtesies to the women in Firenze."

"Stai zitto (shut up), Claudia. This signora has not agreed to fight for our cause and we cannot force her to. If she chooses, I will gladly welcome her to the order. Otherwise, we are mere guardians, always hiding in the shadows to reveal the light. I will be retiring to bed soon after I ask her a few more questions. Buonanotte (Goodnight.). See you in the morning."

The door opened and shut again, leaving me alone with the person sitting at the end of the bed. I heard them shift and the clinking of armor alerted me that Ezio remained behind to pester me with even more questions. Too terrified to actually fall back asleep, I squeezed my eyes shut and buried my face in the pillow as a warm hand settled on my shoulder. If I could just pretend to be sleeping for a little while…

"Signora, it's time to wake. Not for long, I promise."

"Do I have to?" I muttered.

"Si. I still have many questions to ask before we can all sleep peacefully through the night. Do not worry, it won't take very long."

When I tiredly sat up, Ezio raised a black eyebrow. I was confused until I remembered I had stolen one of his shirts to sleep in. I started to babble out an excuse but he held a gloved hand up and smirked to silence me. Jeez, what was I thinking?! First I stumble into his city with khakis and a blouse on, then I take his clothes and sleep in his bed. If he was an assassin he probably wanted to go to bed.

Ezio nodded appreciatively. "It fits you well, signora. However, we do have several sets of robes for our woman assassins that will be far more comfortable than a corset and dress. But I suppose I'm getting ahead of myself in that regard, as you have no agreed to join our order." He smiled, accenting the scar on his lip. "Perhaps you will in time. Until then, you are more than welcome in Monteriggioni."

I yawned and stretched, shaking my head slowly. "You're all assassins? Hanging around you doesn't sound very safe. What if someone asks you to kill me?"

"We are L'Assassino, not il mercenari. I do not accept personal requests for money, nor do I kill the innocent, only those who stand in the way of freedom." Ezio rose from the bed and began removing the cuffs where his hidden blades extended from and nearly slit from my throat. He set them on a nightstand near the door and pulled back his hood to reveal his entire face again.

"Oh. You sound like the good guys to me and I'd like to be on the side of the good guys. I never read about assassins in my history books. Well, I did, but they never said you were this organized. Guess you guys really know how to fly under the radar."

"Fly? Radar?" Ezio frowned a bit of my foreign phrases as he removed all his hidden weapons and set them aside. Poor guy probably needed an hour just to get ready for bed. "These words are strange to me. It does not surprise me that we Assassins fail to register in your books. We try not to attract too much attention to ourselves. That was our downfall during the time of Altair."

"I'll try to watch what I say. I don't want to give you any ideas that distort history. What else do you need to know? My blood type? I'm O negative. Oh wait, you're not supposed to know that! Are you? No, I think you still use leeches and try to keep the plague contained. Right?"

The assassin removed his white robe and took off his boots, leaving him in a plain tunic like the one I was wearing and black pants. It was easy to tell that he was lean and strong underneath the fabrics but I tried not to think of that. There were more important matters at hand. I'd unwittingly stumbled into an Italian assassin's lair and now I needed to play my role very, very carefully.

We talked for a long time about Ezio's order. I listened and asked minimal questions while he told me about how he had come to be an assassin under the tutelage of his Uncle Mario and the gruesome deaths of his father and two brothers. I was surprised to hear that he was forty years old—he certainly didn't look it. He laughed and chalked it up to all the running around he did as an assassin.

Of course, it worried me that such a secretive society was welcoming me with open arms. The Apple of Eden was clearly an important artifact and Ezio's group was doing their best to ensure I wasn't going anywhere. I nervously told him my own history, including the time period I was from, and tried to omit as much sensitive information as possible. He didn't need to know that the plague could be cured with penicillin, or that we'd start driving cars instead of riding horses. It would be too much.

It was better to give him a vague idea instead of dealing with the logistics. Soon Ezio was sitting on the bed across from me, resting his bearded chin in his palm to watch me while I talked. Sometimes I could have sworn I felt his eyes roam down my chest but he was good at not getting caught and I'd awkwardly blush instead of saying anything. Don't rebuke the attractive Italian assassin, don't rebuke—

The room suddenly began to tremble. I paused in the middle of my story and turned my eyes to the window, wondering what could be going on. Ezio noticed and waved it off casually. His eyes were drooping but he was struggling to stay awake to guarantee that I would not be a threat to his fellow assassins. It was noble. I always thought men during the Renaissance were much more… barbaric.

"Training exercises," he said. "My friend Leonardo is quite an inventor."

"Leonardo da Vinci?!" I gasped. "Wow, can I meet him? He's sort of a big deal in the future! The Mona Lisa is one of the most important paintings of our time; it's protected by lasers and bulletproof glass."

Ezio nodded, frowning at my vocabulary. "Si, you can meet him. He is quite shy with women, though."

Before I could say anything more, the sound of something hurtling through the air roused Ezio's attention. He stared at the window hard for a few moments then suddenly leapt forward to pin me down to the bed as a cannonball came crashing through the wall.

Ezio rattled off a lot of colorful words in Italian and rolled off the bed, cursing even more when he saw all his robes were gone. I could hear cannonballs soaring through the air outside and the orange glow of fire cast light across the assassin's furious face. He grabbed his sword and rushed back over to pull me out of bed, groaning when he saw I wasn't wearing pants.

The screams and shouts of people could be heard clearly through the gaping hole in the wall as Ezio roughly shoved me back down on the bed to pull pants up my legs. I was trembling with fear, scarcely able to hear him yelling orders to guards who had come upstairs to check on us. He snapped his fingers in front of my eyes and tightened a belt around my waist, snapping me from my terror.

"Cesare Borgia has laid siege to our Villa," Ezio said, pulling me out of bed again. "Run downstairs. My sister and mother will escort you to a safe zone until we can reunite. Be very careful, Phoebe. They want you alive, not dead."

The assassin turned and leapt out the hole in the wall onto the rooftop, gone like a shadow. I grabbed my phone and rushed downstairs with the guards to the first floor, where two women stood with several other guards who had white hoods like Ezio's. One of them was much younger and had the same black hair as her brother that was braided all the way down her back. She noticed me and immediately grabbed my hand to drag me along with an older woman.

"Nice to meet you, Phoebe," the girl said as we ran. "My name is Claudia Auditore. I'm Ezio's younger sister." She gestured to the other woman who smiled kindly. "This is our mother, Maria. We will have more time for proper introductions later but right now we are far more concerned with our escape to Roma. Leonardo has recently relocated there, you see, which will offer us a safe place to stay."

"Will Ezio be alright?" I asked. "Who is Cesare? I didn't know cannons were invented yet."

Maria turned to me, an eyebrow raised and a smirk tugging the corners of her lips. "Ah, you worry over my son? Don't worry, Ezio will be fine. He has always been a fighter. We will have plenty of time to continue talking when we reach Leonardo's studio in Roma."

The guards escorted us outside where the true extent of the damage could be witnessed. I gaped at the raging infernos and citizens desperately running for the gates, screaming in terror as cannonballs rained down from above. It was like a modern war zone, full of despair and fear. We skirted several fires, treading across yellowing grass until we reached a carriage attached to two white horses. The guards helped Maria inside but Claudia easily leapt up and offered me her hand.

I turned one last time to gaze at the horrors behind me and saw the silhouette of a man against the flames. He turned briefly to look at us but was gone in the next instant. Had I imagined it?

"This time period is insane," I said, climbing into the carriage. "Please tell me it gets easier."

Claudia laughed as the horses took off running, making for a very bumpy ride. "Not when you carry the Apple of Eden in your midst."


	5. 005

**A/N:** Eh, we'll see when I update again. I usually hoard chapters for a few weeks before posting them but I've been nice. No, Ezio will not have an encounter with Caterina in this. I'll probably leave Sofia out as well but I might include Cristina.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Assassin's Creed or anything affiliated with it.

**-MalRev**

**Those Who See**

_005_

Along the ride to Rome, I grew too tired to stay awake. Claudia noticed my eyelids drooping heavily and insisted that I lie down on the seat and rest, which I did without a moment's hesitation. Even the jolts of the carriage couldn't keep me from slipping into a wonderfully deep sleep.

There was no substance to my dreams. It was all strange symbols and patterns that I didn't understand paired with Minerva's echoing voice. I wasn't sure how I managed to stay asleep during the entire ordeal—perhaps my body was too exhausted from the travel through time. Regardless, I slept during the whole trip and was only scarcely aware of being moved into a bed some time later.

When I finally did wake from my slumber, it wasn't to the sound of Ezio's comforting baritone. It was a new voice that I didn't recognize from the group I had already met. As consciousness slowly dawned upon me and my eyes began to open, I could hear him clasp his hands excitedly beside me.

"Si sveglia! (She wakes!)" the man said. "Fetch some water, Salai. Claudia said that we must do everything in our power to keep this signora healthy." There was a pause, then, "Salai! Goodness, where has that boy run off to now?"

I groggily sat up in bed, clutching my forehead. The man's chair creaked as he leaned forward with concern but hesitated to touch me, hands hovering inches away. Sunlight streamed through the window across the room, providing a pleasant heat on my legs. It felt like I'd slept an entire week away. I rubbed my eyes and stretched my arms toward the ceiling, causing the sleeves of Ezio's shirt to settle around my shoulders. I really needed new clothes.

Still mildly confused about what was going on, I turned to the man sitting in a chair beside my bed. He had greying blonde hair that was close to the shade of mine and wore a lopsided red painter's hat. His clothes were pretty formal; he was probably a famous painter with a lot of commissions. A big smile crossed his face and he inclined his head politely to me.

"It is very nice to meet you, Phoebe da…" He paused, furrowing his brow. "I suppose none of us will understand where you're truly from, so we'll go with… Firenze, like Ezio. I am Leonardo da Vinci and this is my studio. It's nothing tremendous because the Borgia don't exactly pay well but—"

"Leonardo _da Vinci_?" I echoed.

"Yes, that's my name. Is it uncommon in your time? Oh, I have so many questions to ask but I'm not sure if I should. Claudia warned me of the implications."

Without thinking I reached forward to grab his hand, shaking it in what I thought was a friendly gesture. Leonardo looked perturbed by my actions but didn't pull back, instead examining my reaction curiously. Was the handshake not invented yet? Oops. I was gonna do a lot of weird things around these people.

"It's truly an honor," I said. "I'm not really into art but you have no idea how important you are to the people in my time. We all learn about you and all the contributions you made to art, science, math, history…" I could hardly contain my excitement—I was sitting beside a living legend. "You're sort of a big deal to everyone in the future. But don't let that affect your work."

"Oh no, I find it fascinating rather than intimidating." He shifted toward me, eyes sparkling excitedly. This was a man with a passion for the unknown. "What of my work? Does it remain intact? I always worry over whether or not it will survive the centuries and perhaps find safety in a museum. That would be the ultimate honor for me. Has anyone decoded the messages I leave behind?"

"Yes, most of your paintings are still safe and sound. One in particular is in France under heavy security. I don't want to tell you but… I think it's one you're working on now. People are sort of dumb in the future. We believe stupid things and do what we're told instead of questioning the world. I think we became too complacent and comfortable with how things are."

"That is an unfortunate side effect of knowledge. The more you gather, the less you appreciate it. Oh well. Are you hungry? Perhaps some warm food will help you wake up."

I nodded in agreement and easily hopped out of bed to follow Leonardo downstairs. His home was very warm and smelled of tulips. Downstairs, he had several paintings hung up or placed unfinished on easels, waiting to be drawn upon. Papers were scattered across his desk and incense burned unattended in various corners of the room. The history books got one thing right—Leonardo was a procrastinator.

A roaring fire was embracing a big black pot in which I guessed there was soup. Leonardo pulled out a chair for me at a small table and walked over to spoon some food into a bowl for me, offering it with a wooden spoon and cup of water. I thanked him and took a few tentative bites of the food. It wasn't half bad. There were potatoes and salted beef; nothing particularly fancy. I was too hungry to care.

"You met Minerva as well, correct?" Leonardo asked. "Ezio isn't exactly good with details so I was wondering if you could tell me anything else about her. And the Apple—it's permanently fused with you? Do you think you can control it or does it lie dormant?"

I swallowed my soup quickly, trying to answer his questions. "There's not much to say about her. She was tall, golden and wore a weird hat. I'm not sure about the Apple, either. I had weird dreams last night but I couldn't figure out what any of it meant. There were all sorts of symbols and glyphs… I wish I could project it to you. You're smart so you'd be able to decode it."

"Perhaps you can be trained to control the Apple, much like Ezio controls his sixth sense. I'm sure the training the Assassino go through would help you accomplish that goal. They're quite strict with themselves and have a strong will." Leonardo fiddled with a quill on his table, eyeing me with restrained curiosity. "I'm sure Ezio will be around to talk with us. He doesn't want the Borgia to discover you."

"That reminds me," I said, "who exactly are the Borgia? Ezio mentioned a Cesare, too. Are they the bad guys? I hope so because I don't want to be affiliated with evil."

Leonardo laughed lightly and nodded. "Yes, they are as evil as one can be. The Borgia have a stranglehold on Roma, choking out her resources and any signs of ingenuity. They are affiliated with a group known as the Templars, who have been responsible for many atrocities throughout history. But Ezio would be better off explaining those things to you. I'm not a violent man and I don't care to be involved in conflict. I'm more of a… scholar, if you will."

We talked for a while longer about Italy and Leonardo's paintings. He revealed that I had slept for several days, which was why he was so worried about my health. Just hearing that I slept that long made me eat even more soup along with some bread. I gulped down as much water as I could while Leonardo showed me some of his work, all unfinished with no hopes of being returned to. It was kind of sad. I wanted to pressure him to create more but I knew it wasn't my place.

A knock on the door interrupted our conversation as the sun was beginning to set. I stretched when Leonardo rose to answer it and wished they had working showers. Maybe they could spare me a bath. It was better than running around Renaissance Italy smelling like garbage. I idly swirled my spoon around in my nearly empty door as the found of footsteps approached. When I turned, my heart leapt.

Ezio was still very much alive and seemed to be in one piece. He was talking with Leonardo but politely nodded his head to me when he noted me presence. I awkwardly stood up and stiffly bowed, drawing chuckles from him and the painter. What was I supposed to do?! I didn't know how to greet people in clothes that were way too big. I'd have preferred to be suffocating in a corset.

The assassin drew his robe over his arm, smirking. "Is that how we greet one another in the future? Ridicolo. (Ridiculous.) A lady in Italia curtsies with her gown." He sarcastically pretended to fan out a dress and crossed his legs to sink into a half-crouch. "Perhaps I should give you lessons, Phoebe."

"Don't let him tease you," Leonardo said. "Ezio is one of the few men beyond his time in regards to women. There are many assassini femminili (female assassins) in the Brotherhood. Of course, some of us believe it is due to his enduring passion for… oh, how do I say this politely… vagine (vaginas)."

Leonardo flinched after the word left his mouth and walked back across the room to douse the fire. I set my hands on my hips as Ezio approached, his armor making quite a racket. How exactly did he blend into the shadows when it sounded like he was carrying ten pounds of cutlery?

"So you keep a harem?" I asked. "Nice. I guess the rumors about Italians are true, then."

"I require no such thing. Women flock to me, like bees to the sweetest honey. Isn't that right, Leonardo? Tell her of my conquests."

"No, thank you," Leonardo muttered. "I think hearing about them five times was plenty for me. Perhaps we should discuss the implications of Phoebe's arrival?"

Ezio looked down at me, folding his bulky arms. I wavered slightly under his intense gaze but managed to glare firmly back at him, trying to send a message that I wasn't to be trifled with. What a weirdo. I didn't want to hear about all the women he slept with. Heat crept into my cheeks before I could look away and soon my blush became apparent enough to draw a grin to Ezio's face.

"I agree," I said quickly, shrinking back to my chair.

The assassin said nothing as he sat down but drew his chair close alongside mine, scarcely touching our thighs. I coughed uncomfortably but Ezio was in his favorite domain. He leaned back in his chair almost lazily as Leonardo sat across from us at his desk and folded his hands together.

"If Phoebe is merged with the Apple, she will become a target," Leonardo said. He turned his gaze to Ezio, who was dusting dirt off his knee. "Ezio, we need to ensure that her true identity remains a secret. No one can know about the power lying dormant within her. Si?"

Ezio peered up briefly and nodded, very interested in dusting his clothes off. "Si, Leonardo. I will see to it that Fehbeh remains safe. We cannot afford to lose an Apple to the Templars."

My spine stiffened at his butchered pronunciation of my name. It sounded odd when they all said it because the strong "ee" sound wasn't present in most Italian, but now he was deliberately provoking me. I began tapping my fingers irately on my leg and nodded in agreement with the two men. Was he hit on the head during the invasion of Monteriggioni? Now he was fooling around so much that I had trouble believing it was the same man.

Leonardo could sense the growing tension. He glanced between us and continued carefully. "No, we cannot. _Phoebe _can remain here until you establish some sort of base in the city. Clearly she should not wander the streets with you when she knows so little. I am more than happy to have her company in the absence of Salai. Actually, I'm going to go look for him. Would you mind watching the studio?"

"Nothing would make me happier," Ezio said, interrupting my refusal. "Take your time, Leonardo. Fehbeh and I still have much to discuss."

In all my life, I never imagined I'd be staring pleadingly at Leonardo da Vinci as he left me alone with an attractive assassin. But I was and he did abandon me, albeit with a comforting pat on the shoulder. He instructed Ezio to show me the fresh clothes Claudia had brought over and with a slam of the door, I found myself alone with the Auditore. Neither of us moved for several minutes.

I clenched the soft fabric of my pants in my fists. "Say it right."

"Mi scusi? (Excuse me?) I am a nobleman, signora. I know my way around several languages."

"My name. You're deliberately saying it wrong now. You knew how to say it last night and Leonardo knows how to say it. _So say it right._ Fee-bee."

Ezio cast a bored glance my way. "Eh? What did you say, Fehbeh? I'm afraid I can't hear you well. I think my hearing is failing from all the cannon fire I dodged several days ago."

"You're impossible," I hissed. "I liked it better when you were an insufferable… stronzo (asshole)!"

The armor tinkered as Ezio sat up straight. He gently caressed the side of my throat with his bare fingertips, eliciting the frustrated response from me that he wanted. I stood up angrily and stormed off towards the stairs to find the clothes Claudia left, hoping my anger would drive Ezio away. But it had the opposite effect. He was one of those insufferable men that wanted a challenge above all else.

I stomped into the bedroom and found the clothes resting on a nightstand. Ezio casually leaned on the doorframe to watch me pick up the dress and make repulsed sounds at the sight of it. The corset looked like it might kill me before any Templars could. But it was a pretty shade of green that looked a lot like the other dresses so I wouldn't have too many problems blending in. I laid it carefully on the bed and fanned out the edges, casting a glare toward the assassin.

"You can leave," I said. "I need to get dressed."

He shrugged off the wall and proceeded towards me slowly, arms still folded over his chest. I copied his stance and stood my ground when he came to rest a foot away from me. His hazel eyes wandered down my body and I felt the annoying blush coming back to my cheeks. When I tried to look away, he gently grasped my chin between his gloved fingertips and tilted my face up to his.

"Why don't I help you?" he murmured. "After all, you _are _wearing my clothes." His free hand settled on the small of my back and he stepped closer. "Mi piacciono indietro. (I'd like them back.)"

"Does that mean you need to take them off me?"

"Naturalmente. (Of course.) What if you make off with them when my back is turned? The Assassino are not foolish enough to fully trust random donne (women)."

"I will if you say my name right," I bargained, trying to ignore the way my skin tingled under his touch. He was careful, only allowing himself to scarcely contact the fabric of my clothes. There was nothing pushy about what he was doing. I likened him to a jungle cat stalking its prey.

Ezio released my jaw to brush a strand of hair out of my face. "The Assassino are also not foolish enough to bargain with said random donne. I pronounce your name as it is in Italia—Febe. You will not blend well if everyone you meet stumbles over the first syllable of your title."

I swallowed hard. "Yeah, because Ezio Auditore da Firenze just rolls off the tongue."

We were backing up now, rather rapidly toward the wall. I flinched a little when the cool wood touched my back and Ezio placed his arms on either side of my head. He smiled and leaned in close to my ear. His breath was warm and smelled surprisingly pleasant, like he had been chewing mint leaves.

"Posso citare un paio di cose che vorrei rotolare fuori la lingua. (I can name a few things I'd like to roll off your tongue.) None of them are entirely proper, signora."

Change the subject, change the subject. "Uh… where is this coming from?"

Ezio pressed his body against mine and I could feel his lips hovering above the skin on my neck. "Does it matter? Let me help you out of my clothes and into something more… confortevole (comfortable)." There was a hiss of metal followed by a cool sensation on my stomach. "What do you think? A warm bath will probably help you relax as well. I can draw one for you after we remove these rags."

"Are you threatening me?" I asked. It was hard to breathe. God, he had overflowing charm.

"No, Febe, I'm merely offering you a pleasant evening. You seem to be easily distracted, like Leonardo. I really would appreciate my clothes back, even if I have to cut them off in the process."

"I don't want—"

Suddenly the blade was at my throat, pressing ever so gently to make me aware of its presence. Ezio leaned back with a satisfied smile on his face as I angrily reached up to yank his arm away. The blade hissed back into his sleeve and he took a few steps back, shaking his head.

"You have much to learn, Febe," he said.

"That was a dirty trick!" I shouted as he left the room. "Where's your damn honor? You can't just pretend to seduce me to try to kill me!"

But my words fell upon deaf ears. I was left frustrated with my situation for the third time and began peeling off Ezio's clothes to use the bath tub in the corner of the room. Those were cheap rules. What a… what a… what an asshole! It wasn't like I'd let every man in the damn country seduce me!

"I'll bring water for your bath," Ezio called.

I furiously kicked at the closed door. "I hate you!"


End file.
